Hokkaidō Picked as Japan’s Most Attractive Prefecture for Twelfth Consecutive Year
Travel- English
- 日本語
- 简体字
- 繁體字
- Français
- Español
- العربية
- Русский
Hokkaidō was once again picked as Japan’s most attractive prefecture in the Local Brand Survey 2020, carried out by the Brand Research Institute. It has placed first since 2009, making this its twelfth consecutive year. The prefecture also came highest in categories on tourism and brand recall for regional food products. There were some shifts lower down, including Okinawa leapfrogging Tokyo into third place. However, there were no new entries in the top 10.
The three lowest prefectures in the ranking were Saga in 45th, Tokushima in 46th, and Tochigi in 47th or last place. Having finished rock bottom for seven years, Ibaraki jumped five places to 42nd in 2020.
Most Attractive Prefectures (2020)
| 2020 Rank (2019 Rank) | Prefecture | Attractiveness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | Hokkaidō | 60.8 |
| 2 (2) | Kyoto | 49.9 |
| 3 (4) | Okinawa | 44.1 |
| 4 (3) | Tokyo | 36.4 |
| 5 (5) | Kanagawa | 34.7 |
| 6 (6) | Osaka | 31.9 |
| 7 (7) | Nara | 30.6 |
| 8 (10) | Nagano | 30.5 |
| 9 (8) | Fukuoka | 29.6 |
| 10 (9) | Ishikawa | 29.2 |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the Local Brand Survey 2020.
In the list of most attractive municipalities, Kyoto came top for the first time in three years. This is the third time it has reached this position in the survey. There were four Hokkaidō cities in the top 10—Hakodate and Sapporo in a tie for second place, and Otaru and Furano—clearly indicating the prefecture’s brand power.
Most Attractive Municipalities
| 2020 Rank (2019 Rank) | Municipality | Attractiveness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (3) | Kyoto, Kyoto | 51.9 |
| 2 (1) | Hakodate, Hokkaidō | 51.3 |
| 2 (2) | Sapporo, Hokkaidō | 51.3 |
| 4 (6) | Yokohama, Kanagawa | 48.1 |
| 5 (4) | Otaru, Hokkaidō | 46.9 |
| 6 (5) | Kōbe, Hyōgo | 44.8 |
| 7 (7) | Kamakura, Kanagawa | 44.6 |
| 8 (8) | Kanazawa, Ishikawa | 43.8 |
| 9 (9) | Furano, Hokkaidō | 43.7 |
| 10 (10) | Sendai, Miyagi | 38.8 |
Created by Nippon.com based on data from the Local Brand Survey 2020. Municipalities in Hokkaidō are highlighted.
The Local Brand Survey has been conducted every year since 2006. It tallies and quantifies the responses of 30,000 people to questions regarding 1,000 municipalities in all 47 of Japan’s prefectures, gauging their awareness of the places, their motivation to visit them, their desire to reside there, and their evaluation of regional resources.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: © Pixta.)